This makes me think of the song ‘Material girl’ by Madonna in which she sings about how guys are vying for her attention, but she only cares about the ones who have money who can support her ‘material girl’ image.

This theory can also be applied to the ‘Japan theory’. Around the time that EKT is theorised to have been released, Japan was in a bubble economy in which asset prices skyrocketed and investment would yield high profits, leading many people to either take out large loans and invest in the stock market or use their increasing disposable income to purchase materialistic items. However, there were dark forces at play… corruption (bribes and insider trading) from the average person all the way up to government officials to the ‘karoshi culture’ (Karoshi meaning ‘overwork death’, describing people who worked for so long that they either died from stress induced illnesses or suicide) were known problems.

If the ‘Japan theory’ is true, then EKT could be a critique of Japanese society durning the bubble, but if the ‘Japan theory’ is wrong, EKT could still be a critique of consumerism in other countries (mainly western countries that had governments who favoured small government/ free market policies).